Asahiya Gardena

I decided to stop by this mini bookstore before buying a bottle of Ito En Jasmine Green Tea. I’m glad I stopped by here because I found a pocket Japanese dictionary that I think will be really useful to me while I’m in the process of learning how to read and write in Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji. (It’s Random House’s Pocket Japanese Dictionary by the way and I’ve been using the Kodansha Workbooks.) I was more or less drawn to the Japanese Language section. Also, they sell cheap back issues of weekly manga books for $ 1.50 (current price as of this Unilocal review), magazines (for instance, gyaru beauty and fashion, hobby and cooking), cookbooks, travel/​cultural guides and novels as well as a small collection of stationery items with characters like Rilakkuma and Hello Kitty.
There was an lady who worked there and she was patient and very nice. This place reminds of mini bookstores/​newstands that I see at airports where you drop by and browse through publications. I would consider this one of the pit stops within the Gardena Maruaki Pacific Market other than the utensil shop, the food court and the mini toy shop.

This Asahiya bookstore is really small and really just a compliment to the Marukai Market. It is more of a Japanese magazine newsstand than an actual bookstore.
The store front might be around 15 by 15 feet. Included are some guidebooks, monthly magazines, and weekly publications. Something that is quite weird is the only music they have here are really old Japanese pop and even cassette tapes. This might be left over from 2 decades ago from the other Asahiya shops.
This place is useful for the person who is looking for more popular magazines and those looking for ridiculous discounted weekly manga books. I was picking up several month-​old manga magazines for $ 1 each. Not for reading, but there were idols in the front cover and photo spreads.
The lady working here is also very nice. She usually caters to elderly customers, so she’s very patient.
Don’t go out of your way to come here! This is a newsstand after all.